From: Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Fri Sep 29 2000 - 06:09:02 EDT
First, I quite agree with Carlton that there hardly seems to be any grounds
for viewing Dative of Agency in EN hUMIN in Phil 1:6. The question of
Dative of Agency and Wallace's discussion of it in GGBB was raised just
last Saturday by Jon Boyd, in response to whom I said that I thought that
Wallace had given a very good account of dative of agency and its rarity in
the GNT, being used only with passive verbs and clear instances of it only
with perfect passive verbs. A dative with EN is an altogether different
thing, fundamentally an instrumental; we've argued on B-Greek about some
LXX instances of EN + dative that might be agentive and might be Semitisms,
but in the GNT? But I'm troubled by something more about this present
question, the more so in that we discussed Phil 1:6 earlier this month and
at that time it was also Mike raising the question, then about EPITELESEI;
the approach to understanding the verse now seems very different, unless
I'm mistaken.
At 2:28 PM -0400 9/28/00, Mike Sangrey wrote:
>My question concerns Phil. 1:6:
> PEPOIQWS AUTO TOUTO,
> hOTI hO ENARXAMENOS EN hUMIN ERGON AGAQON
> EPITELESEI ACRI hHMERAS XRISTOU IHSOU
>
>For reference:
> Phil 1:5
> EPI THi KOINWNIAi hUMWN
> EIS TO EUAGGELION
> APO THS PRWTHS hHMERAS AXRI TOU NUN
>
>My primary question is:
> What are your thoughts regarding EN expressing agency in this verse?
>
>Currently, my translation is:
> I am confident of this: since your partnering has begun [this] good
> work, it will be completed by the time the age of Messiah Jesus begins.
>
>Some context of my thinking:
>
>1. I don't think ERGON AGAQON refers to sanctification. Sanctification
> doesn't appear to be in scope. However, Paul bubbles with
> thankfulness for their partnering (KOINWNIA) with him as it affects
> the promoting of the gospel (EUAGGELIZW). They not only supported
> him financially, but supplied him with Epaphroditus who obviously
>
> was a man of substantial character, a large sacrifice for the church.
> These people were involved with Paul's activity. That's why I take
> the referent for ERGON AGAQON to be EUAGGELION (or more specifically
> EUAGGELIZW). This is the `good work' which Paul is talking about.
>
>2. I tend to think of EN, when it expresses agency, to express a deep
> and intimate involvement. The type of sacrifice the Philippian
> church made was of this type.
>
>3. ENARXAMENOS is in the nominative. Verse 5 starts with
> EPI THi KOINWNIAi hUMWN
> and I take that as a point of departure and therefore it establishes
> the topic. ENARXAMENOS being in the nominative then makes perfect
> sense to me if one takes the participle as characterizing the
> action (commencement) the topic has done. That is, the Philippian
> partnership began something, and it will be completed before a
> certain time.
Unless there's something I'm missing, it seems to me that there's a
short-circuit here; yes, ENARXAMENOS is in the nominative, but it is also a
SUBSTANTIVAL nominative with a masculine article: hO ENARXAMENOS and ERGON
AGAQON must be the object of this middle verb. The substantive participle
must refer to a masculine referent as the one who initiated "a good work"
EN (TOIS FILIPPHSIOIS). So I can't quite see how KOINWNIA from verse 5 is
carried over into verse 6 as a subject of the aorist substantive
participle--which is itself the subject of EPITELESEI, nor can I see how,
when hO ENARXAMENOS itself refers to the masculine subject, the one
responsible for initiating ERGON AGAQON, there can be talk of a dative of
agent to qualify ENARXAMENOS, as if ENARXAMENOS were passive. There's
something missing in the argument, it seems to me. And hO ENARXAMENOS must,
I would think, refer to God in Christ or to God directly, as I hardly think
Paul would be speaking of himself here in the third person.
>4. ACRI (until) is between "the day of Christ Jesus" and a verb which
> denotes completion. So, I take that to mean the work Paul is
> performing will be completed before that day (day, age, or time).
>
>5. I take hHMERAS XRISTOU IHSOU to be a similar phrase to "the time
> of David" which refers to "the time when David reigned".
>
>There's some interesting eschatological discussions lurking in this
>verse. Too bad!!! :-) Off list for those, OK?
One doesn't need to DISCUSS the eschatology just because one discerns it,
and I think one would need to be blind not to discern it in EPITELESEI ACRI
hHMERAS XRISTOU IHSOU. I've already back on September 13th stated my own
conviction that the ERGON AGAQON referred to in 1:6 is indeed the moral
growth in the Philippian congregation and that in fact the logical
clarification and expansion of what is being said in 1:6 is to be found
just a very few verses later:
At 5:05 PM -0500 9/4/00, Carl W. Conrad wrote:
>I would assume that the idea so neatly encapsulated in verse 6 is given a
>more vivid imaginative rendering in vss. 9-11 (KAI TOUTO PROSEUCOMAI, hINA
>hH AGAPH hUMWN ETI MALLON KAI MALLON PERISSEUHi EN EPIGNWSEI KAI PASHi
>AISQHSEI EIS TO DOKOMAZEIN hUMAS TA DIAFERONTA, hINA HTE EILIKRINEIS KAI
>APROSKOPOI EIS hHMERAN CRISTOU, PEPLHROMENOI KARPON DIKAIOSUNHS TON DIA
>IHSOU CRISTOU EIS DOXAN KAI EPAINON QEOU. There the perspective is upon the
>end product of the process referred to as the ever-expanding (by leaps and
>bounds) love, the end-product being a harvest of fully ripened grain or of
>fruits at harvest season (depending on which way you choose to visualize
>PEPLHRWMENOI KARPON).
--
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics/Washington University
One Brookings Drive/St. Louis, MO, USA 63130/(314) 935-4018
Home: 7222 Colgate Ave./St. Louis, MO 63130/(314) 726-5649
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/
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